The Wrong choice
by HorcruxCupcake
Summary: Everybody has a time in their life when making a good decision is important, but what happens if you make the wrong choice. This is the story of what happened when, at only 10 years old, Hermione made a decision that altered her life forever. One-shot. Rated T for death but not overly violent.


**A/N:**** Ok guys so this was actually a story that I wrote for my mock English language GCSE that I have altered to turn it into HP Fan fiction. I got an A* on it which I'm really pleased about but I know I could still improve, so if you're reading this and have any constructive criticism please let me know. Thanks, Oh and it was good friend Beth who suggested I should upload it onto here so you have her to thank for it :p This story has only changed a tiny bit from the original to make it a fanfic but the original is on fictionpress if you want to read it s/3159652/1/The-wrong-choice Happy reading! :)**

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When I was 10 years old, I remember we were practising for Key stage II SATS exam. I'd always been quite a bright kid, and I was happily answering all the questions on our practice paper. Unfortunately one particular girl (Millicent Bulstrode was her name) wasn't as lucky as me and decided she needed to resort to cheating. So she got up to "sharpen her pencil", or so she said, and when she thought I was looking she snuck a look at my answers. I couldn't believe it. Well I never forgot that day, I mean would you?

Well yes, okay, you think now that you forget that day, but you weren't there. When you're the clever kid in your class and someone thinks it's a good idea to resort to plagiarism and all you can think about is revenge. So that was my plan to get revenge on this girl who took all the credit from my work. After that, it all went wrong. It was a time in my life where I should have made the right choice and let it go but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it out of my head.

I was only 10 years old and does a 10-year-old know that Daddy Long legs venom is poisonous? No of course not. I was always told they were safe and couldn't harm you. One day I crept into the school science lab - the insect room we call it, because it contains all sorts of creepy crawlies - and I stole a Daddy Long legs from behind the glass. I took it out to the workbench and got to work. I had researched the night before how to extract Daddy Long Leg Venom and it was surprisingly simple. When I had finished I threw the creature down the drain outside and with the sealed flask of venom, I went home to wait until morning.

The next day at school and I was extremely nervous. I kept thinking that I should just throw the venom away, but I'd already got this far in the plan and it was the right choice, wasn't it? It couldn't cause any harm to the girl anyway. I was sure of it. The lunch bell rang and we all went inside to wash our hands and get our lunch boxes before going into the dining hall, whilst Millicent Bulstrode was washing her hands I silently went and got the venom and poured it all into her drink. She would never know.

The next hour of my life was the worst 60 minutes I have ever lived. I just kept telling myself: "It will be all right, it is going to be okay, it will be all right…" but of course it wasn't. I had secretly been watching her out of the corner of my eye. Actually to start with it had been quite amusing because she spat her milk out like I had hoped and yelled "Ugh, that's disgusting!" That was when it all started to go wrong.

She started shaking and her eyeballs practically jumped out of their sockets. Screaming, high-pitched agonising screaming was coming from her; while she was rolling around on the floor. Then suddenly she stopped, her eyes went blank, and she lay there, the ghost of her last thoughts etched upon her face.

I didn't realise I had been staring the whole time. I couldn't watch, but I was frozen on my seat. Surely it wasn't my fault. It must be something else, right? However, I'd already made my life changing decision and I could never take it back. My only hope is that no one knew was me; until 18 months later, the police came knocking on my door.

From the age of 10 you have to accept responsibility for your actions. I didn't know that either. Maybe I wasn't as bright as I thought I was. So the police dragged me out of my safe haven, in my room, under the covers and threw me in a youth detention centre. Okay, so it wasn't quite as dramatic as that; it took months and months of trials and truth telling lies. But in the end, the jury found me guilty of manslaughter. I couldn't believe it! I had the choice, the chance to move on, but I let it slip away. I made the wrong choice.

The detention centre was awful. Practically a jail for 'juvenile delinquents' or so we were called. The worst part was facing Millicent's family. Not my family, but the family of the girl who I killed. To see the loss in her mother's eyes as the tears came sliding down her face. To see the look her father gave me when they found me guilty. To see her brother staring blankly into space, any youth and fun and laughter stolen away.

Now I'm sitting at home, back in my safe haven, but I will never be the same again. It was a time in my life when making a good choice was important, but unfortunately I didn't listen to my inner conscience. Her father said he didn't know how I could live with myself. I honestly don't know either, but committing suicide is going to solve anything. I am Hermione Granger and I'm going to go to hell either way. I will have to live with regret of making the wrong choice forever.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it! :)**


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